


The Hidden Heir

by silkendreammaid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Creature Fic, M/M, Secret Snarry Swap 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8847694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkendreammaid/pseuds/silkendreammaid
Summary: Harry Potter was not Harry Potter. The Second Wizarding War was going to a short-lived event because of that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the mods and everyone else for the help and guidance in my first try at this. Also, I hope the prompter is happy with how it turned out.
> 
> Written for Prompt #8 from Hayyel1: The moment James and Lily are killed Harry is kidnapped by fairies and a changeling is left in his place. While the wizarding world is busy fighting Voldemort, the fairies are planning on building an army of their own, mostly made up of kidnapped humans. Harry is raised and trained by them, and turns out to be quite a talented warrior, so when he turns 18 he is tasked with leading a small group of the fairy army on a secret mission into the human world.

_Elves and Fey alike gathered in the glade and watched as ice flowed from shape to shape across the pool._

_“The rat will betray the hallowed heir,” Mefus spoke in a distant voice. “Summer’s kin must keep the heir safe and teach him. When Stone and changeling are under the Founder’s roof shall the Heir and Lost Prince bring harmony.”_

_Mefus blinked and the ice disappeared. He dipped his fingers into the waters and light flared. Magic swirled in a heated wave and yet did not touch the frost and snow in the glade. Golden light streamed around them before fading back into the pool. The waters stilled._

_For a long moment no-one moved and then the elves and Fey silently disappeared._

* * *

Harry Potter was not Harry Potter.

Severus Snape had been slightly curious when he’d first seen the boy. Harry Potter looked exactly like a small miniature of his unlamented father, James. Even down to the hazel eyes, and it had been that detail which had struck him as odd. Because he’d always heard that Harry Potter had his mother’s eyes. Severus had been expecting to see the bright green of Lily’s eyes and he had been sorely disappointed. He had waited to see if any of the other professors had noticed but not one of them had commented on it. 

He had surreptitiously watched the boy at mealtimes and couldn’t help but notice that he was the smallest of all the first years and there was an air of caution in all his interactions with his much louder housemates.

Today, the first potions class he’d had with the first year Gryffindors, had completely convinced the Potions master. The magic that he had sensed around Harry Potter was not the magic he expected to feel. The magic had felt older and deeper than any eleven-year-old wizard could project. 

Severus paced the halls on his nightly patrol and frowned. Potter’s magic had an unearthly edge to it and that worried him. Not only was Harry Potter not Harry Potter but Severus wasn’t sure if he was even completely human. 

He let his breath out in a frustrated huff. There was too much going on. After ten years with Harry Potter now starting his magical education and the Philosopher’s Stone in the school, Severus just knew that the headmaster was moving the pieces again. This year was going to be a nightmare, Severus was sure of it.

He paused his pacing and halted suddenly. His magic tingled and something unexpected glimmered in his peripheral vision; he back tracked his last few steps looking around carefully. His eyes narrowed at the light flaring from the forbidden third floor corridor and he moved silently towards it.

A young man was standing there. Dark haired and slender, dressed in dark leathers, he was looking through the open door.

“You are neither staff nor student here,” Severus remarked smoothly as he glided closer.

The young man turned his head slightly and his lips twitched before he turned back to the open door. “It is surely too small a room to keep such a large beast in,” he said in a low easy tone.

Severus raised an eyebrow. “It serves a purpose,” he replied calmly. 

“Oh, I know,” the young man said with a hint of laughter in his voice. “It’s the obviousness of it that makes it rather amusing. Surely something smaller and perhaps more subtle would have been more appropriate.” He waved a hand and Severus shivered.

Magic, old and fey, washed against him. His worries eased slightly as the rich deep magic wrapped around him. Severus stepped closer; he’d never been able to resist this magic.

“That should do it,” the young man said pleased.

“What have you done?” Severus asked.

“Come and see,” the young man said and Severus moved to the doorway. He stared at the three-headed snake that coiled in the centre of the room. The trapdoor was no longer visible. Severus spun to look at the stranger and found the young man walking away.

“What have you done?” he asked again.

The young man stopped and turned to face Severus fully for the first time.

“Are you not Master of Slytherin House?” the young man questioned in response and Severus glared at him.

Severus opened his mouth to reply when something glinted red as the young man juggled a small stone from one hand to the other. He smiled at Severus’s suddenly intent glare. The light caught on green eyes as the young man spun and disappeared silently.

Severus was completely shaken and it took him a long moment before he could move. The three-headed snake – a runespoor, for Merlin’s sake – hissed at him and rested its heads on its coils. It was at least twice the size of a normal runespoor. Severus glared at it.

 _“Are you not Master of Slytherin House?”_ the words echoed in his mind and his eyes narrowed in consideration. As housemaster for the house of snakes he could be regarded as its master, but that didn’t give him the power to deal with _real_ snakes.

He reached out with his magic and the snake shifted - two of its heads hissing at each other while the third stared calmly at him. Runespoor were intelligent and sentient so while he couldn’t understand it there was a chance that it could understand him.

“I really hate it when he does this to me,” Severus sighed before addressing the snake. “You can stay here or you could stay in the Slytherin area of the dungeons. Of course it would mean there would be no biting of the school’s inhabitants no matter where you stayed. The rats, however, would be more plentiful in the dungeons than up here,” he said calmly. “Although you could choose to leave the school altogether. The Forbidden Forest is close. The choice is yours.”

He listened to the hissing increase as two of the heads appeared to argue fiercely. The third shifted its gaze back and forth between Severus and the other two but the snake didn’t move. Severus let his breath out slowly and with a wave of his wand set several charms and wards on the snake. One to warm the reptile and several wards to protect students and snake alike from each other.

He stepped back from the room and closed the door, warding it with several alarms and locking charms. He paced down the hall and began to patrol the other hallways. His mind was working furiously. 

Questions he had never asked since they’d first met were not so pressing anymore because the green-eyed man had entered Hogwarts, appeared to have stolen the Philosopher’s Stone and left him a snake in its place. 

“Irritating young idiot,” Severus muttered as he stalked through the school. He’d always known the young man had oath-bound secrets that Severus had respected. He knew how to be patient when it came to secrets and now suddenly and unexpectedly he’d been given part answers.

_Harry Potter was not Harry Potter._

Knowing that made all the difference. Severus hadn’t been so intrigued in years.

* * *

Breakfast at Hogwarts was always too noisy on the weekends, Severus thought as he sipped his coffee and glared idly at the students. They were too happy not to have classes and chattered quite excitedly compared to their more subdued tones during the week. 

“Were all your students in their beds last night, Severus?” the headmaster asked him quietly and Severus lifted an eyebrow at the question.

“Yes,” he replied calmly.

“Can you be sure of that?” Professor McGonagall questioned with a sceptic glance.

“I have wards on the doors, Minerva. I can account fully for all my snakes last night. Or for any given night,” Severus replied as inoffensively as he could. “Don’t you do the same for your lions?”

Minerva frowned slightly. “I trust my lions. Obviously more than you do your snakes.”

“Are wards necessary, Severus? Really” Dumbledore looked disappointed.

“It is not my students I mistrust, Albus, but the rest of the school. Given the propensity for most to automatically blame Slytherin before getting any facts,” he looked pointedly at the headmaster, “or to imply innate untrustworthiness in my house,” and his glare moved to McGonagall. “I do what I must to protect them.” Severus stood up. “The dormitory and common room doors in Slytherin have been warded since I became Head of House.” He left the table in a swirl of black robes.

“Well, really,” Minerva frowned after the disappearing Potions master. 

“I do the same for my ravens,” Professor Flitwick remarked. “Although I use my wards to make sure they aren’t studying all night or sneaking into the library.”

“The students are in our care, Minerva,” Professor Sprout added. “We should do all we can to keep them protected and safe. The wards in the Hufflepuff Sett have been there for centuries.”

Minerva frowned and turned to the headmaster. “Why did you ask after Severus’ students?”

“Hagrid found Fluffy down by his hut this morning,” Albus informed her quietly. 

“And you think a student moved him? A Slytherin student?” Flitwick asked, surprised and slightly disapproving.

“Most Slytherin students come to Hogwarts already knowing many spells,” Dumbledore pointed out.

“Yes, but to assume such is wrong, Albus,” Flitwick almost scolded. “It is more reasonable to suspect a professor or even that Hagrid took the beast out for exercise.”

“He says he didn’t,” Dumbledore said.

“Then I’d ask the other professors, because none of my ravens were wandering last night either. And while they might enter Hogwarts not knowing many spells, after a week, they certainly do. ”

Albus stood up. “Perhaps you would get Severus and meet me on the third floor.”

* * *

Severus found Albus and the other heads of houses waiting on the third floor. They were standing in a rough semicircle in front of the door. 

“Your students may have been in their beds last night, Severus, but you weren’t,” Albus said. He waved at the door. “You placed wards on it.”

“Yes, I did. During my patrol last night.” Severus met the headmaster’s eyes with an expression that gave away nothing. “I thought the Weasley twins were doing some unsanctioned exploring, so I placed the ward to alert me if they, or any other student, attempted the door.”

“Did you open the door at all?” Albus asked at the same time as Minerva spoke.

“Were they here?”

“No, I didn’t,” he replied honestly to the Headmaster. No, he hadn’t opened the door. It had already been open. “And if they had been here you would have noticed a significant drop in Gryffindor’s points this morning,” he pointed out to Minerva.

“Take down the wards, Severus,” Dumbledore directed and Severus complied with a few flicks of his wand.

Dumbledore opened the door before Severus could and stumbled back in surprise. Severus moved around so he could see into the room. The runespoor was still sitting there.

“A three-headed snake?” Minerva spluttered in shock as it hissed at them.

“Instead of a three-headed dog?” Flitwick queried lightly, almost amused at the sight.

“Runespoor,” Severus mentioned calmly. The three heads hissed at Dumbledore as he entered the room.

“The trapdoor is gone,’ he said as he stepped around the room, keeping a safe distance from the snake.

“Not under the snake?” Minerva asked.

“No, it’s as if it was never there,” Albus replied as he prodded his magic at the floor. “I can sense the room underneath but there’s no way to access it from here anymore.”

“Good,” Severus remarked. “It was foolishness to have it so accessible in the first place.”

“Severus!” Minerva protested.

“Merely warning students to stay away is no deterrent, Minerva, and you know it. It challenges them and we all have certain students in our houses who saw the warning as such.” He raised an eyebrow at her as if daring her to deny it and she couldn’t.

“There is something strange about that snake,” Albus announced and they turned to him. 

“What’s wrong with it?” McGonagall asked.

“I can’t banish it or send it anywhere. It’s stuck here,” the headmaster told them as he waved his wand again.

Severus was not surprised and while the other professors immediately tried, he merely checked the magic around the snake. There was a faint trace of Fey magic remaining on the stones under the snake. Last night it had been stronger. Severus didn’t say anything to the others as he moved away from the door.

“Perhaps we should just leave it here. It would certainly discourage any student stupid enough to open the door,” Severus said as he leant against the wall. “Only one of its heads is venomous so they have a one in three chance of survival.”

* * *

“I worry about him,” the young green-eyed man said to his companion as they followed the black-clad professor into the forest.

“He’d be very offended to think you didn’t trust him to take care of himself, Harry,” his friend replied with a grin. 

Harry grimaced. He could just imagine Severus’s reaction. It wouldn’t be pretty. But he couldn’t help worrying. “I know he’s capable and resourceful, but he hasn’t had our training. We’ve trained to fight, for a war. He hasn’t.”

“He might not have had the same training but he has fought. He fought in the first war and if we do our job properly the second one will be over in six months. But Harry, he’s been a spy and that’s a whole different set of skills, and he’s trained himself so well he’s never been found out. He’s a survivor.” 

Harry narrowed his eyes at the praise for _his_ Potions master and his friend laughed.

“Seriously Harry, we all know he’s yours. But if I couldn’t fight at your side, I’d want to be at his. Even Hawthorn said as much.”

Harry groaned. “That was the only time I’ve ever like Hawthorn,” he stated.

“Well no-one likes Hawthorn, so I won’t go spreading that around. He might be the best Defence trainer we’ve ever had but he’s an absolute nightmare otherwise,” his friend pointed out.

“Mefus likes him,” Harry replied with a smirk. 

“Mefus is a seer. They’re all crazy to start with.”

“Now, that’s true.” Harry shook his head. “We wouldn’t be on this path if it weren’t for him, Nick.”

“And do you think he’s right when it comes to tall, dark and gloomy?” Nick asked with a glance at the oblivious Potions master they were shadowing.

Harry pursed his lips in thought. “Yes. Every time I’ve met him I’ve known it. Severus has Fey blood and magic but he seems completely unaware of it.” Harry paused. “He can sense my magic. He knows when I’m around.”

“And Davy thinks he has strong suspicions about Harry Potter. He said he was watching him rather closely during class yesterday,” Nick added.

“Severus Snape is very intelligent and quite powerful magically,” Harry mused. “He might be feeling the Wild magic and, if his Fey heritage has been kept from him, he wouldn’t realise what it was and why he could sense it.” 

“The _Lost Prince_ for the _Hidden Heir_?” Nick grinned and Harry groaned. 

“I hate that title,” he complained.

“It’s still better than that silly _boy-who-lived_ name,” Nick remarked. “Poor Davy is really sick of it and he’s barely been in the wizarding world a week.”

“But it’s better than the last eleven years he’s been through,” Harry said darkly with a frown. “His treatment at the Dursleys has been horrible. I don’t understand how anyone could have just left me there after what happened to my parents. And then to not even check on me once?” Harry scoffed. “Mefus can be as crazy as he likes. I will be forever grateful he _Saw_ me and that the Fey saved me.”

“Even if it means completing the prophecy?”

“Even then,” Harry stated firmly. He gave Nick a sideways look. “Besides I get the Lost Prince as my reward,” he smirked and seemed to vanish under the trees.

Nick laughed and followed, and they tracked after the professor through the forest.

* * *

Severus Snape could relax in his private potions lab. He’d been in the forest earlier and collected several ingredients and now he had the time to brew and mix and do what soothed his soul best.

He’d checked the wards both on the Slytherin dorms and the third floor. The runespoor had hissed at him and he’d tossed several rats into the room before closing the door again. The school was settling down for the night, he had no patrol, and he was quite prepared to spend the next few hours indulging in his potions.

He set up his cauldron and began preparing the ingredients. Cutting and slicing were usually automatic actions but tonight he found himself unable to get into his normal rhythms. After the second time he’d crushed an ingredient too much, he threw down his knife and stepped back with an annoyed huff.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kept his breathing slow and even as he sought refuge in the basic drills for clearing his mind. After five minutes he was calm and settled. 

He cast his mind back to earlier at dinner. Amongst the general table talk, Harry Potter was a guaranteed subject for at least one conversation per night. Severus had found it hard to say anything that wasn’t disparaging as his enmity to the boy’s father and his friends were well-known amongst the staff. But he’d managed it and he’d opened his mouth to query the brat’s eye colour and found himself unable to speak. And every time he’d tried to say or ask anything about Harry Potter had been the same. 

Severus had noticed Albus looking at him strangely once or twice. Probably worried when I didn’t complain about the brat, Severus thought. 

“Harry Potter is not Harry Potter,” he murmured aloud as a test. So he could say the words, just not to anyone.

“Who is he, then?” an amused voice suddenly asked and Severus whirled around, his wand in his hand. The young man of last night was standing quite still in the middle of the room, a half smile on his lips and a satisfied air about him. 

“Perhaps you know, Harry,” Severus replied putting his wand away and turning back to his ingredients.

“Perhaps I do,” Harry answered. “But are you sure you want to know?” Severus easily understood the warning.

“I have never asked before and I had not intended to start now,” he said. “However, that does not mean that if you want to tell me anything, I wouldn’t listen.” 

“Indeed.” Harry’s voice was teasing but there was a seriousness that Severus was well aware of. His eyes narrowed and he turned around to face Harry. He’d been too concerned with Harry Potter not being Harry Potter, so he hadn’t taken the thought further.

“Perhaps I should ask where the real Harry Potter is,” Severus said with a raised eyebrow and received a full grin in return. “Except you are too old to be Harry Potter.”

“I could be related,” the young man remarked casually. 

“It is doubtful,” Severus said, unwilling to say more. Apart from the green eyes there was no similarity to Lily and Severus knew Lily had been the only magical person in her family. While he knew little about Potter’s relatives, he couldn’t see anything of the James he remembered in the young man. 

“So, what will you do?” the young man asked as he leant against a bench.

“Will your oaths allow you to answer?” Severus went with the direct question.

The young man looked at him sombrely. “Yes,” he said.

Severus’s eyebrow rose. “Harry,” he said in a flat tone.

Green eyes glinted through thick dark eyelashes as the young man ducked his head slightly. “Yes, I can tell you some things. No, I cannot tell you everything,” he sighed. 

Severus looked at the young man. “I will not have you break an oath.”

“I know and I am grateful that you have never pushed.” Harry looked up at the ceiling. “But now, when things …” he huffed. “I just wish I could tell you everything.”

“Things are coming to a head,” Severus filled in the words. He studied the young man. He’d always wondered why Harry had appeared to him. Why his magic had become something he could always sense. “You followed me today,” Severus began voicing his thoughts. “I felt you nearby. You rarely follow me without making yourself visible at some point but today you didn’t. You stayed hidden. Either you weren’t alone or you were guarding against a danger I am unaware of.” He paused and wasn’t surprised when Harry remained unmoving. “There is something I must do – some part I play in your task - and your oaths wouldn’t allow you to tell me until it is right time.”

He closed his eyes for the briefest moment. He didn’t need this, he was sure. The room was silent for a long moment before Harry moved. He sat down on a stool and stared at his hands before he spoke, his voice soft and picking his words carefully.

“There are certain magics that are out of balance, and there are plans to fix this.”

“Certain magics?” Severus queried doubtfully.

“Yes, wild magic.”

Severus let his breath out and sat down on the nearest stool. Magic was used controlled in spells and charms, imbued into objects and buildings by the wizards and witches that wielded it. Wild magic was unconstrained. It was the source of wish magic and accidental magical outbursts. House-elves and many other creatures could tap into it to augment their innate magic. Some claimed that wild magic was the reason wizards and witches appeared in Muggle families who had no history of magic.

“You’re one of the Fey,” Severus said abruptly. It was a long held belief that the Fey were the guardians of the Wild and it’s magic. “I’ve felt more fey magic since I met you than …”

“I’m not one of the Fey,” Harry interrupted him. “But they trained me, and I am working with them.”

“To balance Magic?” 

“Yes.”

Severus bit his lip. He knew it couldn’t be the whole truth but it was undoubtedly part of it. He’d met Harry several years ago and their meetings had been brief but frequent since them. They’d spoken little about themselves but while Severus had managed to glean little about Harry, he knew the young man was well aware of what Severus was and what he had done.

He knew Harry was strong both in magic and character. Severus often thought of him as a soldier and it was always a surprise when Harry acted like a normal young man. 

“They trained you?” Severus asked. “For more than just balancing magic, I think.”

Harry nodded. 

“And where do I come into it?” Severus asked. 

“You, my dear Severus, are special,” Harry said with gleaming eyes. He pointed at Severus’s left arm. “You see, you carry dark magic yet you are a light wizard. And you … sense the Fey. Not many can touch all three.”

Severus frowned, his right hand instinctively shifting to grip his left forearm. 

“The Dark Lord Voldemort did some questionable rites when he was young,” Harry told him. “All the magic he did afterwards was tainted by it. Every magic you or any of his other followers do carries that taint as well.”

Severus hissed in protest. “No!”

“Yes,” Harry contradicted him. “It’s not an active taint, although you might have noticed some of the lighter spells and charms aren’t as effective as they could be. But there’s enough to pull magic out of balance and that increases every time a marked follower uses magic. And if the Dark Lord ever returned, that taint could well become active and that threatens magic itself not just the balance.”

“If he returns,” Severus said quietly, weighing his options. “The headmaster believes he will, and there was a prophecy…” He trailed off.

“Oh, yes. There are many prophecies and several of them outright contradict each other.” Harry grinned. “I leave them to those more suited to sorting out such ramblings. My first concern is removing the taint that exists now and to do that I need someone with a Dark Mark.”

“Me,” Severus said flatly.

“Yes, because seeing how your Dark Mark interacts with your other magic means we can see how the balance can be restored. If we balance it in you, it stands to reason we can do the same on a much larger scale.”

* * *

Severus sat in his chair beside the fire and contemplated the golden whisky in his glass. He rarely drank but after a week of nightly meetings with Harry he felt the need to relax.

Harry. And his damned fey magic. And his green eyes. And his Slytherin cunning. The young man was intelligent and for at least half an hour every night Harry had his hand on Severus’s Dark Mark. Severus didn’t know what Harry was sensing but Severus was getting tired from having to continually stop his magic from reaching for Harry.

Ever since they’d met Severus had felt his magic reacting to the younger man, and after spending so much time together this past week, he was becoming even more sensitive to the fey magic. He often felt it during the day and he could now tell when it wasn’t Harry’s but someone else’s. Harry had said that there were others working with him but he hadn’t met them yet. Twice the magic he had felt had been richer and deeper than anything he’d ever felt and he had assumed that the Fey had been close.

Severus glanced at the books on his table. He’d been to the library and got out as many books he could on the Fey and Wild magic. He’d read everything and there was still much he felt he was missing. 

Severus looked at his covered left arm. Harry had informed him that it would almost certainly be possible to remove the Dark Mark. It would be the last act required to balance out his magics. 

Severus sipped his drink. He would give almost anything to be rid of the mark. If it failed… if it failed … Harry had been blunt as to the consequences of failure. Dying had been the least of it. Severus could face that. Losing his magic however would be a torment he’d never survive.

“You worry too much, Sev,” Harry told him as he silently appeared and sat in the other armchair.

Severus wasn’t startled. He’d felt the familiar magic. He glared at the younger man’s shortening of his name. “I thought you said you had other business tonight?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to come with me,” Harry asked, glancing down at his boots before looking at Severus, catching the surprise before Severus managed to hide his reaction.

“Where would we be going?” Severus asked.

“Little Hangleton,” Harry told him. Severus blinked. He’d never heard of the place.

“And why are we going there?”

“There’s something Dark there that’s really strong,” Harry said. “We’ve found other areas of Darkness but nothing like this one. Apparently the taint is affecting the Muggle village.”

Severus looked at his glass and put the barely touched drink down. He stood up with a nod. “Yes, I’d like to come.”

* * *

Little Hangleton was a miserable place. 

The village appeared to be a little more than a dozen grey houses and a pub. The road was in need of repair and the trees looked half-dead. There was none of the quaintness that most English villages had. Little Hangleton was more like a miner’s village from three hundred years ago. 

It felt cold and depressively quiet.

Severus and Harry landed almost silently just outside the village and Severus looked around with obvious distaste.

A wreck of a manor house stood on a hill overlooking the village with an equally dilapidated church and graveyard near it.

Severus felt fey magic nearby and two unknown young men appeared. Severus had his wand out and ready before Harry laughed and approached them.

“It’s ok, Severus,” he said as wrapped his arms around their shoulders. “Meet my team. This is Nick.” Harry pushed the shorter one forward. “And this is Will,” he added with a nudge to the remaining young man. “Gentlemen, this is Severus Snape,” he said with a wave at the Potions Master.

Nick and Will moved forward and shook hands with Severus. He could feel fey magic on each of them. Nick had light brown hair tied back like Harry’s. He was the shortest of them all and the stockiest, but he moved easily with a solid grace. Will was blond with short hair and about the same height and build as Harry. 

“Nice to meet you both, Nick and Will,” Severus politely responded. He was curious as to how the young men had become a team and why the Fey had chosen them in the first place. He took note of their easy camaraderie and realised they’d known each other for quite some time.

“Okay, there’s something Dark around here,” Harry said once the greetings were done. “Exactly where I can’t tell, but it’s certainly spread the taint over the village and surrounding area.”

“Logically, it would be right in the middle,” Nick said. 

“But where is the middle?” Will finished for him. “The whole area feels Dark.”

“It feels heavier that way,” Harry said pointing along a path into the woods near the village.

“Feels like the Dark Lord,” Severus murmured as he looked in the direction Harry indicated. He missed the quick exchange of looks between the others.

“Are you sure?” Will asked.

“Yes. It’s not something you forget easily,” Severus remarked absently as he gripped his wand tight and began cautiously walking to the path. His eyes scanned the area carefully and he kept his pace steady and sure despite his heightened state of awareness. He felt Harry move to walk beside him; the other two positioned themselves just behind them.

Severus noticed Harry was sending out tendrils of magic in front of them while Nick and Will were testing the flanks. Severus felt his Dark Mark begin itching the farther they walked and he resisted the urge to rub at it. 

It got colder and their breath misted in front of them. The shadows seemed heavier and when Severus cast _Lumos_ , it was a weak light at best.

“This is a cursed place,” Will muttered, pulling his robes closer as he shivered.

“It’s death,” Nick said in a hushed tone. “Do you remember? It’s like the Veil.”

“You’ve seen the Veil?” Severus queried in astonishment. The Veil was deep in the Department of Mysteries and closely guarded.

“Yes,” Harry replied distractedly. “But there’s something more here than just death. The Veil at least felt clean. Here it feels rank and twisted.” He stretched out his hand and pale golden lines of magic became visible. With a small wave of his fingers, the lines stretched out and formed a web and began moving forward.

A loud screech made them jump and the golden web pulled tight around a dark shadow. A second screech sounded and then suddenly the air was filled with shrieks and cries of hate and fury.

The golden web of magic expanded and became a network of shadows clustering and clambering along the golden lines.

Severus looked at Harry. The young man was completely focused on keeping his magic net cast and strong. Severus cast a Stunner at one of the shadows and it shrieked but kept moving. He frowned and tried again. Whatever it was kept moving. He cast _Incendio_ and it screamed as it shrivelled in a foul smoke.

“Inferi!” Severus hissed in recognition, and Will and Nick began to set the black shapes on fire. Harry’s net held the Inferi in place for the others to target, but after a while it was clear that there was just too many of them.

“Severus,” Harry said through gritted teeth. “If I link you to the web can you cast _Fiendfyre_? We could get all of them in one go.”

“ _Fiendfyre_ is hard to control,” Severus replied. “I won’t be able to stop the backlash along your magic.”

“I can do that, I just need you to cast the spell.”

“Very well, then,” Severus agreed.

“Will, Nick, I need you to shield the area. We can’t have this becoming too visible for the Muggles to notice,” Harry directed his friends.

“Do we need backup?” Will asked.

“No, we can handle this. I don’t think there’s any one but us near here anyway,” Nick remarked. “Otherwise they would have already come to investigate.”

“Or they’re too scared,” Will added, as he stood next to Nick and he pulled out a short wooden staff carved with runes. “We’re ready,” he said.

A single thread of magic curled around Severus and he felt its warmth as it settled on his wand hand. He shuddered as Harry’s magic followed in a surging rush. He had to take a steadying breath as his knees threatened to buckle under the weight of the magic.

“Now, Sev!” Harry cried and Severus thrust his wand forward feeling the magic – his and Harry’s – combining into one vast flame.

“ _Fiendfyre!_ ” 

Fire rushed in a roaring wave of heat and magic. Inferi died before they could scream, shadows blasted apart as if they’d never existed. The flames hit the stunted trees beyond and they began exploding under the firestorm. 

Severus struggled to keep the fire controlled, trying to contain it to the area in front of them. He cast a shield around the four of them to help diffuse the intense heat that burnt his lungs. The woods were burning and it was impossible to call the fire back. It reached the ends of the web and the backlash struck.

Harry’s magic flared between them as the fire came rushing back along the golden web. Before it could reach them it was snuffed out as a dragon of white mist flew straight through the flames.

“What…?” Severus gasped. He had been ready with every protective spell he could recall when his magic had been pulled into Harry’s as it flared. The dragon had flown straight through his shield and caused it to fall as his magic had followed the dragon. 

The dragon flared flame red and then disappeared. Severus felt his magic burn and snap back into him. He fell to his knees, barely aware of Harry dropping beside him.

“Well, that was typical, Harry. Always over-achieving as usual,” Nick said calmly.

“Oh shut up,” Harry replied as he steadied himself on the ground. He looked at the older man beside him.

“Severus and I have _harmonious_ magic. I didn’t realise that,” he said apologetically and met the dark eyes as they blinked at him.

“I knew it was compatible but not that strong. I’ve never joined magic with anyone before,” Severus said reluctantly. “I didn’t know it would be so intense.”

“I have but never to this degree,” Harry told him. “If we’d been just compatible rather than _harmonious_ it wouldn’t have been as intense as it was.” Harry let his breath out and stood up. “We better find out where the taint is.” He looked at Severus. “But when this is over, perhaps we could…?” He trailed off hesitantly.

Severus got to his feet shakily, ignoring his aching body. He looked at the scorched ground and trees. “The path continues that way,” he said, pointing to the left before he met Harry’s unsure eyes. “Yes, we will… discuss this afterwards.”

“Okay,” Harry said and straightened up, visibly pushing their personal issues away. “The fire’s cleared a lot of the taint away.”

“I wonder how the Inferi came to be here?” Will asked curiously. “Did they sense the taint?”

“The Dark Lord always claimed to have an army of them,” Severus remarked. “And I believe the Dark Lord before him used to say the same.”

“And you said it felt like the Dark Lord,” Nick recalled.

“Dark Lords don’t seem to be very original,” Will mused as they began walking the path through the trees.

Harry chuckled. “Which is a good thing for the rest of us.”

The burnt shell of a shack had them halting and spreading out cautiously. 

“So Dark,” Harry muttered and Severus was scratching at his arm before he realised it. 

“He feels so close,” Severus murmured. “But I’ve never felt it itch like this before.”

Harry spread his magic net out again but it found nothing. They all shared a suspicious look before inching closer.

“There has to be something more than just the Inferi here,” Nick spoke their common thought.

“It must be hidden,” Will remarked.

Slowly and carefully they approached the charred timbers, Harry casting his magic out for every foot forward. Soon they standing at the open doorway and peering into the roofless rooms beyond. Holes gaped in the remaining walls and the floors were littered with debris.

“Still itching?” Harry asked and Severus nodded. He pointed to one corner.

“It feels like the Dark Lord in that corner,” he said.

“And the taint is there, too,” Harry said, considering what his senses were telling him. “But they feel like separate magics.”

A wave of his hand had the corner almost delicately peeling open under a muttered spell, and Severus’s eyebrow rose. He found Harry’s use of magic enthralling. His command of it seemed to be complete and innate. He rarely used a wand and often appeared to use no formal spell. Magic did what Harry wanted because that’s what Harry wanted. 

The sound of metal clinking had them all focused on the floor. Three wands lit up and light glinted on dull gold.

“A ring?” Nick queried as they studied the small object.

Severus cast a detection spell and the ring lit up in several colours. 

“The yellowy-green is a death curse,” he said. “I don’t recognise the others.”

“I’ve seen the red one before,” Harry said sombrely. “It’s one of the Darkest magics there is.”

“And the purple one?” Nick asked. He, too, had seen the red one before.

“I have no idea what that one is. I think we need to get rid of the death curse first. We can’t touch it while that one is on it,” Harry informed them. “We need to take it to Gringotts to get the red one removed.” 

“What is the red one?” Severus asked as he realised he was the only one who didn’t know what it was.

“Horcrux,” Harry announced after a quick look at his friends.

Severus frowned in thought. He didn’t think he’d ever heard that word before. He shook his head. “I don’t know that one.”

“It’s not a curse… It’s a piece of someone’s soul. They’ve done a very nasty ritual and split their soul. That ring holds a piece of that soul.”

Severus thought on the ramifications and then sucked in his breath. “The Dark Lord! He was always looking at ways for immortality.” He glanced at the others. “And you’ve seen it before,” he said slowly. “How many has he made?”

“Six. Seven if you count whatever his spirit is possessing at the time,” Harry said calmly. He stared at Severus for a long moment. “Five have already been destroyed. This would be the last one and it must be done before his spirit dies, otherwise he would just come back.”

“Does his spirit possess people? Could he make another one?” Severus asked.

“Yes, he possesses people. And no, he can’t make another one unless he has his own body. His spirit alone doesn’t have enough magical power,” Harry said.

“Can he get a new body?” Severus questioned.

“Only through a ritual,” Harry said with a shrug. “And some of the ingredients would be near impossible to get. He’d need some help.”

“So, you destroy this Horcrux, and then kill his spirit?” Severus mused.

“Yes.” Harry nodded.

“And do you know where his spirit is?”

“Oh yes.” Harry smiled slightly. He began casting a counter curse at the ring.

“Where is he?” Severus asked, not sure if he would get an answer.

“At Hogwarts.” Harry smirked and green eyes flashed at him for a brief moment.

Severus froze. The Dark Lord was at Hogwarts?! His mind raced. Severus was not a stupid man. He’d known something had been off since before the school year started. He’d been worried, and quite rightly it seemed.

“Albus knows,” he muttered. “He knows he’s back.”

“We think so, but we’re not sure,” Nick agreed. “He’s well known for insisting that Voldemort didn’t die ten years ago.”

“Was the Stone at the school for protection as he claimed, or was it bait?” Severus wondered as his mind whirled.

“He probably believed he was protecting it,” Will remarked.

“But he wouldn’t hesitate to see it as bait either,” Severus said cynically, well aware of how manipulative the headmaster could be. He let his breath out. “How much danger is whoever Harry Potter is in?” he asked.

“None,” Harry said confidently. “He is protected at all times.”

“And the other students?” Severus asked with a lifted eyebrow.

“They’re safe. We believe the Dark Lord is only after the Stone,” Will told him.

“And the Stone is no longer there,” Harry said as he lifted the now un-cursed ring and placed it in a small box.

“But the Dark Lord and Albus don’t know that.” He frowned. “And you made the trapdoor inaccessible.”

Harry nodded. “No-one is getting the Stone, it’s gone back to the Flamels and they’re being protected.”

“You haven’t asked where the Dark Lord is?” Nick noted with some curiousity.

Severus refrained from rolling his eyes. “There’s only one teaching change this year, and there’s been something wrong with him since he returned,” he said. “Quirrell has never stuttered before. The only thing I don’t know is if the headmaster has figured it out as well.”

“There are wards on the school against the Dark Lord aren’t there?” Will asked.

“There are, but they were modified to allow for my Mark,” Severus told him. “If the headmaster knows, then he’s playing a very dangerous game and is putting at risk every student there, not just Harry Potter – or whoever Harry Potter is,” Severus added.

“Then let’s finish this,” Harry said determinedly. “Let’s go to Gringotts.”

* * *

Gringotts was never closed. Building and maintaining wealth was the life’s work for most goblins whether it was their own personal wealth or someone else’s. They had strict rules and traditions that could only be broken in the most extreme of circumstances.

When Harry and his three companions Apparated straight into Gringotts, Severus knew that it was very serious indeed. He had never known anyone – including the headmaster – being allowed to Apparate into the bank.

“Lord Harry welcome,” the well-armed goblin said as he watched them straighten up in the small bare antechamber.

“Thank you Blignik,” Harry nodded. “Is Grimlok available?”

“Yes, he is waiting for you.” The goblin opened a door. “This way, please.”

“ _Lord_ Harry?” Severus muttered as they began to walk down a quiet hallway. Weaponry of all kinds hung on the walls.

“The goblins are rather formal and were most uncomfortable when I wanted to just be called _Harry_ , so we compromised,” Harry murmured back. Severus nodded in understanding and appreciation at the almost Slytherin side-step in the answer.

A goblin, taller than most, appeared at the end of the hallway. 

“Grimlok,” Harry said in greeting. 

“The room is prepared, Lord Harry,” Grimlok replied without preamble. He surveyed the three wizards with Lord Harry and after a moment nodded in grudging approval. “We are most pleased the Prince scion will be able to assist.”

Severus stood completely still. He hadn’t acknowledged his mother’s side of his heritage since he left school. “My mother was dis-inherited,” he said, completely blank-faced.

“Yes, she was,” the goblin agreed, with the faintest emphasis, which Severus ignored. “But your blood is still of the Prince line. You carry the Dark Lord’s magic in your Mark.” Grimlok smiled showing sharpened teeth. “We goblins have our own prophecies and it is has been foretold that a Dark Prince will join in harmony with the Hallowed Heir to defeat a Dark Lord.” The goblin sounded rather cheerful as he hustled them into a large room.

“Marbrik has the ritual lines drawn,” Grimlok announced as they stared around the large room. The floor was marked by lines woven into intricate patterns and runes. Magic was a silver haze like a low mist a bare inch above the floor and they could feel the wards around the walls, they were so strong.

In the centre of the circles was a small altar with four boxes set upon it. Harry held out the box he’d placed the ring in and one of the goblins collected it from him.

“It feels heavy,” the goblin remarked. He held the box up and turned it from side to side.

“Yes,” Harry nodded. “There’s something else on it as well as the Horcrux, Marbrik.”

“We will watch it carefully,” Marbrik said. “Once the Horcrux is gone, we will investigate further.” Marbrik walked carefully, stepping over the lines and without disturbing the silver mist to the altar, and placed the box with the others. He opened the box before returning and studied the room carefully before nodding in satisfaction. “We can begin.”

Severus frowned. “There are only five boxes.” He turned to Harry. “Didn’t you say there’d been six of them?”

Marbrik answered before Harry could. “There was. It had not been created in a complete ritual so it was easily destroyed. We almost did not recognise it for what it was, but once we knew, then we could seek out these others.”

“And the Dark Lord’s spirit?” Severus couldn’t help but ask.

“As soon as the Horcrux is gone, we will use your Mark to call him here,” Marbrik told him and Severus blinked.

“And you didn’t think to tell me that earlier?” he asked Harry. “You’ve been studying the Mark for a week.” The bright green eyes were shadowed as Harry met his flat stare.

“And I would have told you in plenty of time before we acted on it. We didn’t expect to find his last Horcrux tonight and I don’t think you’d actually let us wait for anything – even for you to prepare yourself - instead of getting rid of him immediately.” Harry ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “In the goblin prophecies, you are the _Dark Prince_ ; in a Wizarding prophecy, you are the _power he knows not_ ; and to the Fey, you are the _Lost Prince_. Without you, we cannot get rid of the Dark Lord completely.”

“Without you _both_ ,” Nick said softly and he looked pointedly at Harry. “The goblins call you the _Hallowed Heir_ and the Fey know you as the _Hidden Heir_. The wizards have several names for you, but all the prophecies name you and Severus. There’s never one without the other.”

“Young Nicholas speaks true,” Grimlok said. “You are both needed to do this, and while it appears that Potions Master Snape does not know everything, further explanations will have to wait until later. Marbrik is waiting for you.”

Marbrik was glaring, lightly for a goblin, at them. He quickly positioned them outside the runic circle.

“We will banish the Horcrux first. Once it is gone, you will be able to enter the circle. You will go to the altar and Lord Harry must hold onto Potions Master Snape’s Dark Mark. Lord Harry will call the Dark Lord Voldemort here. Please do not use your magic until his spirit arrives,” he instructed them.

“And what happens when he gets here?” Severus asked.

“You will know,” Marbrik replied and Severus grimaced at how unsatisfactory he found that to be. Harry grinned at him and he frowned. The young man seemed almost too happy, considering what they were about to do. Low chanting caught his attention and Severus focused on the goblins.

The chanting became hypnotic as it grew louder. The normally guttural goblin language sounded melodic and resonated around the room. Severus felt his heart stutter and then beat in time with the chanting. His bones ached as the unknown words and magic surrounded him. 

He stared into the circle. The silver mist rose and flowed along the runes, spiralling into the altar. The box containing the ring shifted, rocking slightly. As the mist thickened, the box’s movements became more frenetic. Suddenly it tipped over and the ring rolled over the altar. A protesting shriek resounded and a black cloud boiled up from the ring.

The chanting grew strident and the silver magic thickened and wrapped around the black cloud. The shrieking became shrill and panicked as the silver mist tore the black cloud apart. The moment the blackness vanished the chanting stopped.

The sudden silence was a shock to Severus but he had little time to think about anything as he was literally pushed into the circle with Harry.

The silver mist had thinned slightly and it parted as they moved to the altar. Severus pulled up his sleeve and Harry didn’t wait for him to reach the altar. He placed his hands on the Mark, fingers wrapping around Severus’s forearm. Severus shuddered and he was suddenly very aware of the connection in their magic. He fought to keep it controlled.

The snake on his arm began hissing and so did Harry. Severus blinked and for a moment he thought he could understand the hissing as well. There was a shuddering in the magic around them and a loud crack reminiscent of Apparition sounded.

“No!” The shouted protest had Harry and Severus turning to face the intruder. Professor Quirinus Quirrell came striding through the room and crossed into the circle.

Magic slammed through the runes and halted the turbaned professor in mid-step. The goblins began chanting again and the silver mist became liquid, oozing across the floor and flowing up Quirrell’s robes to latch onto the long sash of the purple turban.

Harry kept his hands on the Dark Mark and Severus lost the struggle to keep his magic controlled. Dark scarlet light flared under Harry’s hands at the same time as the turban fell from Quirrell’s head. 

Magic wrapped Quirrell in silver and he was slowly turned. The goblin’s chanting was harsh and strained and Severus felt his arm burning.

The face at the back of Quirrell’s head was ugly and emanated evil. Severus instinctively took a step back, putting up a shield as he felt the altar at his back. 

“Severussss,” the face hissed.

“My Lord?” Severus gasped before strengthening his shield. He could sense Harry’s magic easing the burn in his arm.

“Yesss, and you bring me a gift,” the misshapen face tried to smile. “Harry Potter.”

Severus wondered why he wasn’t as surprised as he should have been. He looked at the young man at his side as he felt Harry’s fingers tighten on his arm. The young man was pale and Severus could clearly see the strain and dread in the green eyes. He took a deep breath.

“We can discuss it afterwards,” Severus told Harry and then looked at the Dark Lord. “I didn’t actually bring him here for you,” Severus said as lightly as he could. He pulled Harry to one side and for the first time the Dark Lord could clearly see the boxes on the altar.

“What have you done, Severusss?!” the Dark Lord hissed furiously. “Traitor!”

“Spy,” Harry noted blandly. “Severus was a spy. A very good one, too, although the Horcruxes were not his doing, but mine. And now that you’ve seen them, you know that you will never return because they are empty now. You are the only remaining shred of Lord Voldemort, who was once called Tom Riddle.”

“NO!” the Dark Lord screamed and struggled ineffectively against the goblin driven magic holding him.

Harry raised one hand up and a staff appeared. With one hand wrapped around Severus’s arm and another holding his staff tight, he began casting fey magic.

Severus instinctively pushed his magic at Harry. He felt and understood the fey words deep in his bones and he poured more of his magic through their connection. Magic he hadn’t realised he had; Fey and Wild surged up in a maelstrom of fire and heat. 

Harry staggered under the force of the magic and he somehow managed to control what felt uncontrollable. The dragon they’d seen earlier that night burst from his staff and roared in full flight straight at Quirrell.

Harry shouted the last words he been taught as the dragon hit Quirrell. The explosion was loud and violent. The resultant concussive wave shook the room; the wards on the runic circle shuddered but held. Magic roiled in clouds of silver and blood for long moments.

When it cleared Quirrell was dead, the Dark Lord gone and Harry and Severus were collapsed unconscious on the floor.

* * *

Severus stared at the ceiling. It was an unfamiliar ceiling of rough rock with small globes of light. The bed he was lying in was soft and warm.

“You look comfortable,” Harry said, and Severus turned his head to the next bed.

“I feel surprisingly well,” Severus replied. “How long were we unconscious?”

“Nick said three days.”

Severus sighed. “Three days. The headmaster is probably having major conniptions at my and Quirrell’s disappearance, and Merlin knows what trouble my snakes have caused while I’ve been gone.” He closed his eyes before he suddenly opened them and held up his arm.

The Dark Mark was gone. Instead there was a small red dragon circling an even smaller triangular symbol. It was vaguely familiar but he felt too languid to think too hard on it.

“I have the same thing,” Harry remarked.

“Because you are the _Hallowed Heir_ ,” a new voice spoke. 

“Hawthorn,” Harry greeted the newcomer with a wary smile.

Severus instantly recognised him as being Fey. Tall and slender with long dark hair pulled back displaying the pointed ears of his race. Brilliant blue eyes sparkled. His leather clothing was clean and well-worn and a long sword hung at his hip.

“Severus, this is one of my instructors, Hawthorn,” Harry introduced the newcomer.

“The Lost Prince,” Hawthorn nodded to the Potions master. “Severus, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Severus bowed his head slightly. “I wish I could say the same, but Harry has been rather reticent on his association with the Fey.”

“As he had to be,” Hawthorn said firmly. “He was under several oaths and the consequences for breaking them would have been severe.”

“But Severus was good and didn’t ask questions or push for reasons,” Harry murmured. 

“I understand secrets and promises,” Severus said.

“Yes, you do,” Hawthorn agreed. “And these secrets had to be kept until Harry Potter entered Hogwarts.”

Severus looked between the two of them. “And yet Harry Potter is not Harry Potter” he noted.

“The one now known as Harry Potter was left on his aunt’s front doorstep after his parents died. I and several other Fey had already taken the real Harry Potter,” Hawthorn said. “Time moves differently in the Wild and what has been ten years for you has been double that for him.”

“Changeling,” Severus breathed in understanding and both Harry and Hawthorn nodded.

“Yes, the Harry Potter at Hogwarts is a changeling,” Harry said. “Davy has lived the life I would have had if the Fey had not taken me as soon as my parents died.”

“He will disappear soon and the real Harry Potter, the _Hidden Heir_ , will take his place,” Hawthorn said.

“Lord Harry,” Severus realised with a grimace. “Or is it Lord Potter?”

“Lord Potter and Peverell,” Harry said reluctantly. 

“And you will be Lord Prince,” Hawthorn announced.

“My mother…” Severus stopped and recalled what he had ignored earlier. His head fell back into his pillows and he closed his eyes. “My mother was disinherited, but I wasn’t.”

“Yes,” Grimlok appeared in the doorway. “There is old blood and fey magic in the Prince line. You could not be disinherited; the family magics would not allow it.”

“Once you accept the lordship, we can get on with the finishing the war,” Hawthorn told them with a satisfied air. “We have Death Eaters to round up, and magic to balance!”

“No-one said anything about a war.” Severus frowned and Harry groaned.

“Take him out of here, Grimlok, please,” Harry begged the goblin and the goblin nodded.

“I am here to do that. Seer Mefus has arrived and wishes to see Master Hawthorn.”

Hawthorn nodded and left without further words, with Grimlok trailing behind him.

“A war to finish?” Severus asked blandly, ignoring for the moment his impending Lordship.

“It’s what I’ve been trained for,” Harry said. “The Fey cannot fight directly, they are Wild magic. Too strong and too uncontrollable, they’d wipe out the wizarding world even without meaning to. I and the others they took are wizards and mostly human so while we have learnt how to work with wild magic, we’re not part of it, we can’t access it all, and so it can be controlled.”

“To fight Death Eaters,” Severus remarked.

“And to get rid of the taint,” Harry reminded him. “Six months, it shouldn’t take longer.”

“Merlin, I hope not,” Severus grumbled as he settled back into his pillows. 

“Are you going to be alright with the whole Potter spawn thing?” Harry asked almost timidly.

“You know?” Severus didn’t look at the younger man.

“There are few secrets the Fey cannot find out.” Harry sounded embarrassed.

Severus lay there for a long moment. Harry Potter was not his father. The boy had never known his parents. He’d grown up without them and become a strong and brilliant young man. Severus had always felt comfortable with Harry. Despite the addition to his name, Severus still felt comfortable with the young man.

“ _Harmonious_ magic,” Severus murmured. It answered his doubts and made much else insignificant.

A strand of magic reached across from Harry and wrapped around the new mark on his wrist. Severus concentrated and reciprocated. A little misty dragon settled on Harry’s arm.

“Show off,” Harry pouted. 

“Six months, you said?” Severus asked around a yawn. That bit of magic had exhausted him more than he expected.

“Yes.” Harry nodded. It would go longer than that, he knew, but clearing out the Death Eaters and clearing the taint was the easy part. He had been trained for war on more than one kind of battlefield.

“Six months sounds like a perfectly acceptable length of time,” Severus said drowsily.

“Acceptable time for what?” Harry asked curiously, but Severus had fallen asleep.

“Time for what?” Harry repeated forlornly as he curled up under the warm blankets and never felt himself follow Severus into sleep.

“Six months?” Hawthorn queried softly from the doorway.

“ _Harmonious_ magic will not let them go too long without a formal bond,” his companion, Mefus, replied equally softly. They had been listening just outside the room for the last few minutes. 

Mefus watched the two sleeping wizards for a long moment. The future held much in store for them. One, young and powerful and who would hold the power of the Death within a year if the prophecies were right. And the other, older, tempered and bearing the blood of both wizard and Fey.

“I want to be there when you tell them about the bond,” Hawthorn said with a smothered laugh.

“Only if you behave. Come on, Hawthorn, let’s let them sleep. They’re going to need it,” Mefus said softly and left the room.

Hawthorn followed him, not seeing the green eyes that opened and narrowed in realisation before turning to look at his sleeping companion. Who wasn’t sleeping. Half-closed black eyes met green.

“You knew?” Harry whispered.

“I suspected,” Severus replied and then shot Harry a telling look. “And you already knew.”

“The prophecies have us linked but I didn’t know the details.”

“Details are important, Harry,” Severus told him before closing his eyes. “Go back to sleep. The Fey is right; you’re going to need it. Tomorrow we are going to be discussing many, many details.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment here or at [Livejournal](http://snape-potter.livejournal.com/3677279.html), [Insanejournal](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/snape_potter/1622087.html), or [Dreamwidth](http://snape-potter.dreamwidth.org/924515.html).


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